World’s oldest champagne to start a bidding war among connoisseurs

Calling all the well-heeled champagne lovers! Two bottles of the world's oldest champagne, which was recently found in a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea, will be up for auction this summer. Finland's autonomous province of Aaland will sell the 200-year-old bottles in an exclusive champagne auction taking place in the capital Mariehamn on June 3, 2011. While one of the bottles comes from Veuve Clicquot, the other one is from the now extinct house of Juglar.
In July 2010, around 150 bottles of champagne were found by some divers in a shipwreck, 50 meters below the surface in the waters south of Aaland. The batch includes 95 bottles from the house of Juglar and 46 from Veuve Clicquot. Talking about the upcoming auction, champagne expert Richard Juhlin said…

These bottles are unparalleled in the market. You can only speculate on what the end price will be, but it will probably be at record levels.

He describes the Juglar as more intense and powerful, mushroomy and the Veuve-Clicquot as more like Chardonnay, with notes of linden blossoms and lime peels. Juhlin has earlier estimated that either bottle could fetch €100,000 ($146,300). Auction house Acker Merall and Condit will handle the sale.
Via: YLE/AFP